This invention relates to the field of projection televisions (PTV), and more particularly to a system for mounting infrared receivers in a PTV.
When an infrared (IR) remote control device is used with a rear projection television (PTV) set, a receiving IR device is typically mounted either on an area of a front panel near the edge of a focusing lens assembly, or at the bottom of a reflecting mirror. The selection of a specific location is made to provide a line-of-sight path from the IR receiver to a viewer""s controlling device. However, to preserve controller battery life, the transmission path is minimized, thereby providing a sufficiently strong received signal for a given transmitted power.
Disadvantageously, such an arrangement occupies front panel surface area. This forces a chassis size to be larger than necessary to accommodate the IR receiver sensing element in a typically esthetically-pleasing arrangement within the overall PTV enclosure. To compensate for this impact on chassis size, the target area of the receiving sensor is typically reduced, thereby reducing the received signal power.
A rear projection television (PTV) system employing a reflecting mirror for redirecting an image to be projected, wherein the mirror is fabricated with a coating material having dual light properties according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. With the dual properties comprising a high reflectivity property to incident visible light beams (wavelengths less than 790 nm) and a transparency property to IR light beams (wavelengths greater than 790 nm), an IR receiver element can be positioned behind the mirror rather than on a front panel of the PTV. In addition, a fresnel lens used for focusing the created image can also concentrate the incident IR beam to provide for a stronger received IR signal than would otherwise be possible.